Faculty and Staff

Eric Bonds, Associate Professor of Sociology

received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. His primary research interests are in the fields of environmental sociology; the sociology of war, peace, and conflict; and political sociology. He teaches classes on Environment and Society, Political Sociology, Introduction to Sociology, and Social Issues.

received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. Her primary areas of specialization are the sociology of aging, the sociology of health and illness, and qualitative research methods. Her other teaching and research interests include gender and Latin America, particularly Mexico. She teaches social problems, social gerontology, medical sociology, and the sociology of gender, qualitative research methods, the sociology of the body, and the sociology of food.

Back to TopLaWanda M. Simpkins, Post-Doctoral Fellow in Civil Rights and Social Justice

received her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies form the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). She also received a graduate certificate in Women’s & Gender Studies from UNCG. Her primary areas of specialization are Black Feminist Thought, Critical Race Theory and broadly issues dealing with intersectionality as it relates to social justice and advocacy. She teaches Race & Revolution (FSEM), Women of Color Feminism and Social Justice in the Age of Multiple Identities.

received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Virginia. He has studied village-level politics and religion in Guinea-Bissau and Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the politics of heritage in the United States. He is the author of Anthropology and Egalitarianism (Indiana University Press) and (with Richard Handler) The New History in an Old Museum (Duke University Press). He is currently a managing editor for Museums and Society and book reviews editor for American Ethnologist.

received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California, San Diego. His research interests include nationalism, ethnicity, collective memory, socialism and post-socialism, and Germany. He teaches courses in collective memory, the anthropology of Europe, urban anthropology, and tourism. His book Preservation and National Belonging in Eastern Germany was published by Palgrave-Macmillan in 2012, and he is currently conducting research on the commemoration of slavery and the Civil War in Richmond as well as the process of integrating immigrants in Germany. Blog/website: http://jasonjames.umwblogs.org/

received both her M.A. (2004) and her Ph.D. (2009) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research and teaching interests include international immigration, multiculturalism, race and ethnicity, nationalism, and East Asia.

Back to TopKristin Marsh, Associate Professor of Sociology and Program Director, Women’s & Gender Studies

received her Ph.D. in sociology from Emory University, where she specialized in political economy/political sociology and with research focusing on comparative processes of conflict and compromise in revolutionary social movements. Revisiting a long-standing interest in gender and work, her current research explores the experience of achievement and family/work issue for women in advanced sociology careers. She teaches courses on the history of social theory, economic and social inequality, aging & society, gender & work, and introductory courses in women’s studies and feminism. She is Program Director for Women’s & Gender Studies.

Back to Top Leslie Martin, Associate Professor of Sociology and Department Chair

received her Ph.D. from Emory University, and an MA in Urban Studies from Temple University. Her areas of specialization include urban sociology, race/ethnic relations, and sociology of education. Her research focuses on issues of neighborhood and community change. She teaches social problems, urban sociology, and the sociology of education.

received her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge. Her primary areas of specialization include environmental anthropology, critical theories of development, indigenous cosmologies and social movements. Her research is based in Lowland South America (Amazonia) and the Caribbean. Other interests include economic anthropology and the anthropology of race and gender.

Nina M. Smith, PhD received her PhD from American University in Sociology because that’s what classically trained vocalist do. She started out life believing that she’d be singing on the great stages, but always thought sociologically about all things. As a vocal music educator for young children, she was able to bear witness to the way society designates, denigrates and deviates from its role as nurturer and support function. She hopes to do her small part to advance scholarship that is focused on the immense capacity a society has to ensure each and every being is able to demonstrate their innate abilities. Dr. Smith has two additional graduate degrees from Washington University in St. Louis (her hometown) and another from George Mason University. Her research centers around the educational experience of Black girls and the way perception can be a detriment to academic success which can lead to complex life choices. She is energized by her current role as a Visiting Professor here at UMW and looks forward to learning from the students.

Amanda Rutstein, Office Manager of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology

received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Mary Washington and her MFA in Creative Writing Poetry from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She lives in Fredericksburg, VA and is a Featured Guest Writer for Women in Higher Education. Before coming to Monroe, she worked in the HCC and previously served as an adjunct for the English Department.